Venue News: Despite Renovations, MSG Slated to Move in Ten Years; AT&T Secures Cowboys Stadium Naming Rights

Compiled by Karen Hogan, Associate Editor, Sports Video Group

If Penn Station's movin' up, then Madison Square Garden's movin' out. The New York City Council voted Wednesday to limit the arena's permit for its location atop Penn Station to a decade. Council members say they would rather see the Garden move to make way for an improved Penn Station and voted, 47 to 1, to offer the more limited permit, although it could be extended in the future. Arena officials had resisted any move to limit their permit, saying the city was unfairly singling out a successful venue that is just finishing up a nearly $1 billion facelift in favor of a transit plan that is so far little more than a pipe dream

Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones wanted a corporate sponsor with cachet before he agreed to alter the name of Cowboys Stadium. He's found it in AT&T. And Jerry World is now officially known as AT&T Stadium. The club and AT&T have reached a multi-million dollar naming-rights agreement. This culminates the long dance between the Cowboys and AT&T over how to meld their brands. The name change, effective immediately, will be reflected in substantial signage updates throughout the upcoming football season, prominently featuring AT&T, both inside and outside of the stadium. Jones declined to discuss the terms of the deal (years and dollars) at the press conference. He acknowledged the deal is not the most in dollars that there has been for naming rights. ESPN's Darren Rovell reports the deal is worth an average of $17-19 million per year

Boingo Wireless has been chosen as the exclusive cellular network provider for the new Pinnacle Bank Arena. Boingo will design, deploy, and manage a neutral-host, multi-carrier Distributed Antenna System (DAS) providing mobile voice and data coverage throughout the 15,300-seat arena. The Boingo DAS network will launch timed to the opening of the new arena in September 2013. Pinnacle Bank Arena, the new home of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers men's and women's basketball teams, is slated to host more than 120 major concerts, entertainment and community events annually

The Detroit Red Wings are hoping to play in a new arena soon, not far from where the Tigers are defending their American League title and the Lions will soon start another football season. All this in a city that is filing for bankruptcy, a decision that follows years of decline. Detroit owes billions to creditors and its revenues, like its population, drop each year. Yet it's been largely business as usual on the ice and the playing field. The bankruptcy filing Thursday left the region a bit shaken, but the professional sports teams may be spared any dramatic impact

Conditions at Brazil's new football stadiums have plummeted since the Confederations Cup ended and FIFA left, and the arenas started holding Brazilian league matches, say fans and journalists who accuse football authorities of double standards. Media facilities have been dismantled, roads to stadiums are clogged with traffic, and high ticket prices have left seats empty, they say. FIFA took control of the six arenas weeks before the tournament began and installed its own facilities, including modern media centers.

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